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In a recent speech by the Welsh Minister for Children, Huw Irranca-Davies, he said that physical punishment of children has "no place" in a "modern and progressive" society.

As reported by Wales Online, Wales will remove the legal defence that currently protects parents when hitting their child as a punishment - the same stance that Scotland announced last month.

It will leave England as the only place in the United Kingdom where children are legally still allowed to smack their children, which could cause problems for any English parents taking their children over the borders.

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This is what you can and can't do when disciplining your child

The charity Child Law Advice say that smacking is illegal here in England, but it has a legal defence of "reasonable punishment" under section 58 of the Children Act 2004. This only applies to parents and legal guardians.

What that is defined as is not set out in law, so is a grey area and depends on each individual case.

Factors such as the age of the child and the nature of the strike are considerations.

But it is illegal for teachers, nursery staff, care workers to smack children. Privately-hired carers such as nannies or babysitters may smack, but only if permission has been given by the parents.